Liwa Date Festival: A souq where warmth comes before business

Emirati women's stalls are a big hit at the Liwa Date Festival .

Generations of Emirati women have come to the Liwa Date Festival to set up shops for their traditional crafts, clothes and food. The souq, which is set up in the style of an Emirati market of the past, uses palm tree wood for the shops and shelves.
The shopkeeper, usually an Emirati woman, greets her visitors and potential customers with Arabic coffee, tea, sweets and fresh dates.
Hameedah Al Mazroui, a handicraft maker from Madinat Zayed who is participating for the third time in the traditional souq, believes it's all about tradition. "This welcoming is not a form of bribe, to make people feel they now have to buy something from us. They should buy because they like the products. Offering these refreshments comes from the ancient Bedouin tradition of hospitality."
A tray of Arabic coffee, sweet tea with milk and traditional Emirati donut-style sweets is placed on a table in front of her shop, along with small bottles of oil perfumes, hand-mixed by Al Mazroui herself.
Emirati dresses with handmade decorations using motifs inspired by local heritage for females and perfumes are found inside her shop.
Obaid Al Mazroui, Director of Liwa Date Festival, says the local women have contributed a lot to the festival. "This year we have about 150 shops in the heritage market. They are all run by Emirati ladies from all parts of the country," he says. "There is no particular rule on what items the ladies can bring to the souq, but since it's a heritage one, most objects are either traditional handicrafts or modern products inspired by Emirati heritage."
Of the products that have a touch of past, Salama Rashed Al Mazroui's candles turned out to be a major hit.
Her Dar Al Aood shop is the only one in the traditional market to present candles designed with special motifs - from the portrait of the late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to the logo of the Liwa Date Festival.
"We come from Abu Dhabi, where we make all these items in our home. Here, we are three generations of ladies - my mother, who started the shop, my grandmother, who has a home cooked food shop in the souq, and me," says Salama.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com